Children of Southern village of Burghliyeh help create new playground.

Byline: Adam Jewell

Summary: "We used to have to play in the street, or the field where people kept their cows," said 10-year-old Mohammad as he surveyed a swarm of children clambering over newly constructed play equipment in Burghliyeh, a Southern Lebanese village scene to the opening of a children's park on Thursday.

BURGHLIYEH: "We used to have to play in the street, or the field where people kept their cows," said 10-year-old Mohammad as he surveyed a swarm of children clambering over newly constructed play equipment in Burghliyeh, a Southern Lebanese village scene to the opening of a children's park on Thursday.

While the facility, whose construction was supported by the non-governmental organizations American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA) and the Association for Rural Development with funding from the US Agency for International Development, is not completely rare in Lebanon, how - and by whom - the playground came into being is more so. The unique nature of the park in Burghliyeh lies in that those responsible for developing and making the park a reality are the same ones kicking soccer balls on its field and swinging on its monkey bars.

"The children had a major hand in all aspects of the park's creation, from identifying the lack of such an area in the community, to what shape the park's characteristics would be," said Robert Mosrie, Lebanon's director for ANERA, which works with Palestinian refugees and the communities that host them in Palestine, Jordan and Lebanon.

"We felt it was important to involve various members of the community in the project, from its inception through completion, not only so our efforts addressed the needs of the area through the eyes of those living in it, but in order to strengthen inter-communal bonds as well," Mosrie added.

Located 15 minutes north of the Southern port city of Tyre, the municipality of Burghliyeh is home to a Lebanese community in its southern bastion and a Palestinian one in the village's northern extension. Not considered one of Lebanon's official 12 Palestinian refugee camps, North Burghliyeh makes up one of the country's 27 informal "gatherings," areas with a substantial refugee population.

While repercussions from the army's 2007 three-month battle with Fatah al-Islam in the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp north of Tripoli are at times still seen to effect Palestinian-Lebanese relations, some communities of mixed nationalities like Burghliyeh are willing to take steps to improve inter-communal ties.Aa

"This park is a positive step," said Umm Mahmoud. "Children from [the gatherings of] Qassmiyeh and Shabriha would often come and play soccer with teams from Burghliyeh. But they had to use a field shared with cows."

"But now they have their own place to play soccer," Umm Mahmoud added.

The idea to construct the park was the result of five meetings conducted by ANERA over two months with groups of 10 to 15 children from both of Burghliyeh's communities.

The first session involved the youngsters compiling a list of the images that came to mind when someone mentioned their village, an activity that highlighted the area's strengths and weaknesses. With this in mind, later meetings focused on having the children express - through drawing pictures and acting out sketches - what they would like to see change in their community.

One thing the groups identified early on was a lack of safe places for children in Burghliyeh to play, prompting the area's kids to play near an open irrigation ditch or on a notorious road nicknamed "the street of death" that skirts the village. Other ideas brainstormed by the community's child residents included a public pool, a cafe and tennis courts.

As final sessions saw the children putting their ideas for community improvement into more concrete form with posters and short plays, the youngsters repeatedly focused on the need for a clean spot for families to gather, space to run around freely and activities for pre-schoolers.

"In the end, when we examined the ideas the children had developed and looked at ANERA's capabilities and those of potential donors, a community park seemed like the best way for us to help in addressing Burghliyeh's needs," said Mosrie.

In judging what the impact of the park's playground and soccer field will have on the area's younger Palestinian and Lebanese residents, the wild laughter and stampeding feet heard at Thursday's opening point to the positive.

"Children need a place to play and to stay away from delinquents," said Hussein, a father and scout leader in Burghliyeh. "It's healthy for body and mind."

"This truly is a gift of the American people to Lebanese and Palestinians," said William Corcoran, president of ANERA, in a speech in at the park's opening. "It is a gift that shows that people are more important than politics, particularly the children. And when we see the smiling faces of these children playing in this park today, we hope that the next generation will worry less about politics and more about people."

Highlighting the importance of building bonds between Burghliyeh's Palestinian and Lebanese populations, ANERA has also built walking paths linking the northern and southern sides of the village. The paved routes replaced dirt paths that would turn to mud in the winter and give the area's children a route to school which avoids the dangerous main highway.

Taking in the brightly painted equipment and the sand-covered soccer field, Mohammad, who took part in ANERA's meetings with children, expressed his satisfaction with the new facility. "I can't believe this was built so fast after the meetings. They actually heard what we had to say."

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